An impressive crowd gathered on Saturday afternoon in the streets of Paris, to say no to the far right.
AFP
Several tens of thousands of opponents of the far right marched across France on Saturday at the call of unions, associations and the New Popular Front, the union of left-wing parties.
According to the CGT, 640,000 demonstrators marched in France, including 250,000 in Paris. In the capital, the police headquarters counted 75,000 demonstrators.
From Bayonne to Nice, from Vannes to Reims, the population mobilized against the prospect of a victory for the far-right party, the National Rally (RN), in the legislative elections with the hypothesis of the arrival of its president, Jordan Bardella, to the post of Prime Minister.
“Now it can happen”
“I thought I was never going to see the far right come to power and now it could happen,” fears Florence, 60, a trainer who marches in Paris.
Gatherings took place in Lille, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand and Marseille, to name only the largest cities in the country. In Lyon, the demonstration is planned for Sunday.
In the crowd gathered in Marseille there were mainly young people, but also many families who came with children and a few elderly people. French flags were brandished by the demonstrators, some covered with slogans such as “we love France, not R’Haine” or “No need to vote RN to love France”.
Few overflows
The processions took place largely peacefully apart from a few brief episodes of tension in Rennes where a few dozen antifas were pushed back by the police with tear gas. In Paris, urban equipment was damaged and a bank branch was targeted by demonstrators whose faces were masked by balaclavas. The police were also the target of bottle throwing to which they responded with tear gas.
Everywhere in France, slogans resounded in the processions: “Youth piss off the National Front”, “No neighborhood for the fascists, no fascists in our neighborhoods” or “Bardella get out of it, the Republic is not in You”.
“The situation is serious, we have to get involved,” explains Gauvin, a 20-year-old student. “I am here to defend women’s rights, equality between peoples, ecology too,” says Marie, 58, employed in National Education.
Left front damaged
The left-wing leaders were at the head of the procession in Paris but did not say a word about the deep differences which are shaking the New Popular Front, after the decision of La France insoumise (LFI) not to reinvest several figures opposed to Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “A purge”, according to one of the ousted candidates, another accusing Jean-Luc Mélenchon of “settle his scores”.
“We are ready, we made (the union), no one believed it”, “we will give you back the flame. And not that of the National Front, that one we are going to extinguish,” launched the boss of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier.
“There are differences between us but when the essential is at stake, we have no right to do anything other than come together,” added the boss of the Socialists, Olivier Faure.
“We are in the process of writing history,” assured Mathilde Panot, a close friend of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The RN in the lead, say the polls
Stunned after the surprise announcement of the dissolution by Emmanuel Macron, the majority went on the offensive with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who was campaigning on Saturday in his constituency, where he promised to “not give up”.
With 33%, the RN still clearly leads the voting intentions in the first round of the legislative elections on June 30, ahead of the New Popular Front (25%) and the presidential majority (20%), according to an OpinionWay poll published on Saturday for “The echoes”.
Moreover, from Friday, Jordan Bardella chose to make the New Popular Front his number one target.
